Method and system for managing rights for digital music

ABSTRACT

A method is described for managing rights for digital music, including registering music players, from among a plurality of music players, with digital archives that store songs, from among a plurality of digital archives, wherein songs can be copied from digital archives to music players, and from music players to digital archives, permitting a music player to copy a song from a digital archive for which it is registered, permitting a digital archive to copy a song from a music player that is registered with the digital archive, restricting a music player from copying a song from a digital archive for which it is not registered, and restricting a digital archive from copying a song from a music player that is not registered with the digital archive. A system and a computer-readable storage medium are also described.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority from and is a divisionalapplication of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/893,473, filed onJul. 16, 2004, published as U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/0065624,entitled “Method and System for Managing Rights for Digital Music,”which is a continuation-in-part of assignee's pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/829,581, filed on Apr. 21, 2004, published asU.S. Patent Publication No. 2004/0267390, entitled “Portable MusicPlayer and Transmitter,” which is a continuation-in-part of assignee'sissued application U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/336,443, filed onJan. 2, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,191,193, entitled “Automatic DigitalMusic Library Builder.”

FIELD

Embodiments of the present invention relate to rights management fordigital musical recordings.

BACKGROUND

Copyright law regarding devices that make copies of digital recordingsis set forth in 17 U.S.C, Chapter 10, referred to as the “Digital HomeAudio Recording Act of 1992.” Specifically, this Act requires payment ofspecific royalties to the Register of Copyrights. Royalty payments fordigital audio recording devices are 2% of their transfer price, androyalty payments for digital audio recording media are 3% of theirtransfer price.

Copyright law regarding Internet service providers is set forth in theDigital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998.

Consumers are generally aware to some extent of copyright lawsconcerning digital recordings, but there are no automatic features inplace to assist consumers in abiding with them. For example, a consumerwho purchases a song on a CD, or through a subscription with an Internetmusic sharing service such as Napster, generally does not know if he ispermitted to make personal copies of the song for himself, on one ormore of his computers, or on one or more CDs, or on one or more MP3players.

It would be beneficial if a system was in place to advise consumerswhether or not a song may be copied for specific uses, and, if so, howmany copies are permitted, and, if not, how to obtain the necessarycopyright permission.

SUMMARY OF THE DESCRIPTION

The present invention concerns a configurable method and system formanaging copyright privileges when a digital song is copied from onedigital audio device to another.

In a general setting, digital songs are (i) acquired from externalsources, including, inter alia, Internet music services such as iTunes,and Napstert, CDs and other recording media, music kiosks and broadcastmusic stations such as cable and satellite stations; and thereafter (ii)copied between digital audio recorders and digital audio players.Transfer of songs may be likened in some respects to a virtual waterdistribution system with nodes and conduits, wherein the nodes storewater and the conduits transmit water from one node to another. Externalnodes represent music sources such as record stores, kiosks and Internetmusic services; and internal nodes represent audio recorders andplayers.

Within this paradigm of water distribution, digital rights managementconcerns controlling valves that restrict the flow of water within thepipes.

For an embodiment of the present invention,

digital audio devices are registered with one another; and

songs stored within recorders and players are labeled as beingPurchased, Recorded or Try & Buy.

Preferably, digital audio players are registered with either zero or onedigital audio recorder. In other words, a digital player cannot beregistered with more than one recorder, but one digital recorder canhave multiple digital players registered therewith.

Preferably, the label of a song is used to identify copyrightsassociated therewith. The Try & Buy label is used for promotional ortrial versions of songs, and generally include an expiration event, uponoccurrence of which the song “evaporates;” i.e., can no longer be playedin its entirety.

For an embodiment of the present invention, copyright management isachieved by (i) restricting a song from being copied from a sourcedevice to a target device; and (ii) specifying the way a song is labeledwithin a target device when the song is copied from a source device tothe target device—based on the source device, the target device, thelabel of the song in the source device, and based on whether or not thesource and target device are commonly registered.

Further, for an alternate embodiment of the present invention, copyrightmanagement may restrict the number of copies permitted to be made for asong resident on a source device. For example, when a recorder is usedto copy songs to a plurality of players, up to three copies of a songmay be permitted.

Thus, embodiments of the present invention enable audio devicemanufacturers to configure a flexible logic for digital rightsmanagement in accordance with legal requirements in their respectivelocales. Various such configurations are described in the detaileddescription hereinbelow.

In distinction from embodiments of the present invention, prior artdigital rights managers do not include the fundamental feature ofadapting labels from source label to target label when a song is copiedfrom a source device to a target device. One such prior art digitalrights manager is Microsoft Corporation's Windows Media Rights Manager,which implements digital rights by encrypting audio files using keys,and packaging the files with key IDs. In order to play the audio files,a user obtains a license, which contains a key to decrypt the file.

Another such prior art digital rights manager is Apple Corporation'situnes rights manager, which registers ipod music players withcomputers, so that an ipod cannot download a digital song from acomputer that it is not registered with.

There is thus provided in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention a method for managing rights for digital music, includingregistering music players, from among a plurality of music players, withdigital archives that store songs, from among a plurality of digitalarchives, wherein songs can be copied from digital archives to musicplayers, and from music players to digital archives, permitting a musicplayer to copy a song from a digital archive for which it is registered,permitting a digital archive to copy a song from a music player that isregistered with the digital archive, restricting a music player fromcopying a song from a digital archive for which it is not registered,and restricting a digital archive from copying a song from a musicplayer that is not registered with the digital archive.

There is additionally provided in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention a method for managing rights for digital music,including maintaining, by a digital archive of songs, for a song storedin the digital archive, a maximum number of permitted copies of thesong, tracking, within the digital archive, for the song, a count ofmusic players that copied the song from the digital archive, permittinga music player to copy the song from the digital archive if the countfor the song has not reached the maximum number of permitted copies forthe song, and restricting a music player from copying the song from thedigital archive if the count for the song has reached the maximum numberof permitted copies for the song.

There is moreover provided in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention a method for managing rights for digital music,including registering groups of digital audio devices from among aplurality of digital audio devices with one another, the digital audiodevices being able to store digital songs and to copy digital songs fromone to another, labeling digital songs stored within digital audiodevices according to copyright privileges, determining whether or not asong may be copied from a source digital audio device to a targetdigital audio device, and prescribing the label of a song within thetarget digital audio device when the song is copied from the sourcedigital audio device to the target digital audio device, wherein thedetermining and the prescribing are based on the source digital audiodevice, the target digital audio device and the label of the song withinthe source digital audio device, and also based on whether or not thesource and target digital audio devices are registered with one another.

There is further provided in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention a computer-readable storage medium storing programcode for causing a device to perform the steps of registering musicplayers, from among a plurality of music players, with digital archivesthat store songs, from among a plurality of digital archives, whereinsongs can be copied from digital archives to music players, and frommusic players to digital archives, permitting a music player to copy asong from a digital archive for which it is registered, permitting adigital archive to copy a song from a music player that is registeredwith the digital archive, restricting a music player from copying a songfrom a digital archive for which it is not registered, and restricting adigital archive from copying a song from a music player that is notregistered with the digital archive.

There is yet further provided in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention a computer-readable storage medium storing programcode for causing a device to perform the steps of maintaining, by adigital archive of songs, for a song stored in the digital archive, amaximum number of permitted copies of the song, tracking, within thedigital archive, for the song, a count of music players that copied thesong from the digital archive, permitting a music player to copy thesong from the digital archive if the count for the song has not reachedthe maximum number of permitted copies for the song, and restricting amusic player from copying the song from the digital archive if the countfor the song has reached the maximum number of permitted copies for thesong.

There is additionally provided in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention a computer-readable storage medium storing programcode for causing a device to perform the steps of registering groups ofdigital audio devices from among a plurality of digital audio deviceswith one another, the digital audio devices being able to store digitalsongs and to copy digital songs from one to another, labeling digitalsongs stored within digital audio devices according to copyrightprivileges, determining whether or not a song may be copied from asource digital audio device to a target digital audio device, andprescribing the label of a song within the target digital audio devicewhen the song is copied from the source digital audio device to thetarget digital audio device, wherein the determining and the prescribingare based on the source digital audio device, the target digital audiodevice and the label of the song within the source digital audio device,and also based on whether or not the source and target digital audiodevices are registered with one another.

There is moreover provided in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention a system for managing rights for digital music,comprising a plurality of digital archives that store songs, a pluralityof music players at least some of which are registered with digitalarchives, wherein songs can be copied from digital archives to musicplayers, and from music players to digital archives, and a rightsmanager housed within a digital archive permitting a music player tocopy a song from the digital archive if the music player is registeredwith the digital archive, permitting the digital archive to copy a songfrom a music player if the music player is registered with the digitalarchive, restricting a music player from copying a song from the digitalarchive if the music player is not registered with the digital archive,and restricting the digital archive from copying a song from a musicplayer if the music player is not registered with the digital archive.

There is further provided in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention a system for managing rights for digital music,including a digital archive of songs including a database manager formaintaining a maximum number of permitted copies of a song, for a songstored within the digital archive, and for tracking a count of musicplayers that copied the song from the digital archive, and a rightsmanager for permitting a music player to copy the song from the digitalarchive if the count for the song has not reached the maximum number ofpermitted copies for the song, and for restricting a music player fromcopying the song from the digital archive if the count for the song hasreached the maximum number of permitted copies for the song.

A system is described for managing rights for digital music, including aplurality of audio devices, each being able to store digital songs andto copy digital songs from one to another, wherein groups of the digitalaudio devices are registered with one another. A database manager isprovided for labeling digital songs stored within digital audio devicesaccording to copyright privileges, for determining whether or not a songmay be copied from a source digital audio device to a target digitalaudio device, and for prescribing the label of a song within the targetdigital audio device when the song is copied from the source digitalaudio device to the target digital audio device. Said determining andsaid prescribing are based on the source digital audio device, thetarget digital audio device and the label of the song within the sourcedigital audio device, and also based on whether or not the source andtarget digital audio devices are registered with one another.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be more fully understood and appreciated fromthe following detailed description, taken in conjunction with thedrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a digital archive, referred to as a “Nest,” inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of a music player, referred to as an “Egg”, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is bottom view of the music player of FIG. 2, in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an illustration of a user interface for copying songs from thedigital archive of FIG. 1 into the music player of FIG. 2, in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a simplified flowchart of a method for “checking-out” songsfrom the digital archive of FIG. 1 to the music player of FIG. 2, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a simplified flowchart of a method for “checking-in” songsfrom the music player of FIG. 2 to the digital archive of FIG. 1, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a simplified flowchart of a method for tracking the number oftimes the same song is broadcast while the digital archive of FIG. 1 isrecording music, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 8 is a simplified block diagram of a digital rights managementsystem, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 9 is a simplified flow chart for a digital rights managementsystem, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Digital music players are proliferating as standalone consumerelectronic devices, such as MP3 players, as bundled components withinportable devices such as personal data assistants (PDAs) andcell-phones, and as home network appliances. Listeners typically buildup their own personal libraries of digital songs, which are stored onmemory units such as hard disk drives and removable memory cards.Digital songs are typically acquired through the Internet viasubscription services and peer-to-peer exchanges, or by converting songsfrom a compact disc (CD) and importing them into an MP3 library.Acquiring digital music files may infringe copyrights, unless the filesare validly obtained through a service that pays royalties to therecording industry.

Digital songs typically include audio data and auxiliary data, referredto as meta-data, used to index the songs within the listener's library.For example, within MP3 files meta-data is accessed through an ID3Tag;WMA files embed meta-data within the files, and also within thefilenames themselves. By indexing the songs, a listener can search hislibrary and access individual songs therein. Typically audio playersprovide a user interface through which users view meta-data.

Barring copyright issues, building up a digital music library requires alot of time and work. Typically, a listener first searches the Internetfor one or more songs of interest, then identifies locations of thesongs, and then downloads them into a database associated with a mediaplayer. Songs are typically stored as digital files, formatted incompliance with a standard format, such as MP3 or WMA. Once the songsare downloaded, the listener typically uses software such as WindowsMedia player or Winamp to play the songs on a computer, or alternativelyhe copies the songs onto a hardware device, such as an Ipod™ or MP3player, that plays the songs.

A shortcoming in the world of digital music is the great effort requiredto build custom music libraries at home. Often individuals spend nightson end downloading their favorite songs and building their own personalmusic libraries. An alternative is to either purchase libraries thathave been prepared by others, but often someone else's library does notmatch a listener's taste and the listener prefers to collect his ownfavorite songs.

A popular source for a listener to hear his favorite songs is on musicstations. Cable, satellite broadcast, and the Internet provide musicchannels for almost every genre of music—classical music, rock and roll,jazz, music of the 80's, etc. A listener can enjoy music according tohis taste by subscribing to such broadcast services.

Embodiments of the present invention enable a listener to automaticallycopy and import songs that are broadcast from a music station into hisdigital music library, along with the songs' meta-data required forindexing his library. Using embodiments of the present invention alistener, with practically no effort, can automatically build up a largedigital music library with tens of thousands of his choice of songs, allproperly indexed for search and retrieval. Moreover, an additionalfeature of embodiments of the present invention enables the listener toselect which songs from among those broadcast on the music stations areto be imported into his library, based on one or more of criteriaincluding inter alia genre, song title, artist, album and length ofsong.

Copying songs that are broadcast from a music station is akin to copyingtelevision programs onto a VCR. Copyright law permits a consumer to copytelevision programs broadcast to his home onto his VCR. The technologyfor automatically copying songs, however, is more complex since rawaudio recording from a music station does not provide the meta-datanecessary to identify such songs and incorporate them into a digitalmusic library. Moreover, each song has to be separated out from othersongs, because songs are played sequentially on the music station,generally without breaks in between.

Embodiments of the present invention concern a method and system forautomatically building digital music libraries from music channelsbroadcast through cable and satellite stations. For one embodiment ofthe present invention, broadcast songs are recorded into a digital musiclibrary, along with meta-data necessary for indexing and accessing eachindividual song, and for display while the songs are being played. Usingembodiments of the present invention, the digital music librarygenerated from the broadcast music serves as a large library ofindividual songs, with full search and access capability.

Embodiments of the present invention provide a system that enables thelistener to automatically digitally record each broadcast song into adigital music library, and automatically index each song according togenre, song title, artist and album title, as described hereinbelow.Additionally, embodiments of the present invention enable the listenerto filter songs to be automatically recorded, by specifying inter alia agenre, song tile or artist, instead of recording all of the broadcastsongs. The listener need not be present while the system of embodimentsof the present invention is in operation. It may thus be appreciatedthat embodiments of the present invention enable automatic generation oflarge libraries of songs.

An embodiment of the invention comprises a programmable device, referredto herein as a “Nest,” that can interface with computers, with MP3players and other digital music players, and with other electronicdevices that include MP3 players or other digital music playerstherewithin, including, inter alia, cell phones, PDAs, home networkappliances and Internet appliances. In a first embodiment, the Nest iscoupled to a satellite/cable receiver; in a second embodiment, the Nestis coupled to a television; in a third embodiment, the Nest is coupledto various external components via a USB and a Firewire connection.

In all embodiments, the memory storing the digital music library can beeither a large hard disk situated within the Nest itself, or one or moresmaller removable memory units such as compact disks and memory cards,or a combination of hard disk and removable memory. The advantage of alarge hard disk is that the listener's music library is consolidatedinto a single library that can be searched and accessed in its entirety.The advantage of removable memory units, such as compact disks, is thatthe listener can insert the disks into portable players such as MP3players. Assuming that 40 songs on average require 128 MB of data andinclude one and a half hour's worth of listening, a large 80 GB harddisk can hold a library of approximately 25,600 songs; and a 640 MBcompact disk can hold approximately 200 songs, or about 7½ hours worthof listening.

Reference is now made to FIG. 1, which is a front view of a Nest 100, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Nest 100 isshown with its front panel open. On the left side of the front panel arefemale left and right analog audio-in connectors 110 and 120, and femaleanalog video-in connector 130, preferably used for connecting auxiliaryaudio and video devices, such as a CD player, in order to add contentinto the Nest. On the right side of the front panel are female USBsockets 140 and 150, preferably used for connecting foreign MP3 playersto the Nest; a female Ethernet connector 160, preferably for connectingthe Nest to a computer network; and a mini-jack socket 170, preferablyused to provide analog stereo audio-out for headphones.

For an embodiment of the present invention, a Nest includes one or moreexchange ports 180, also referred to herein as “cradles,” through whichone or more hand-held digital music players, referred to herein as“Eggs,” can be connected to the Nest, for loading songs from a digitalmusic library stored on the Nest thereto. Such exchange ports may becircular or oval ports into which Eggs in the shape of film canistersare inserted. Eggs may be “charged up” with songs while they are pluggedinto the cradles of the Nest.

Reference is now made to FIG. 2, which is a side view of an Egg 200, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Egg 200 is shownwith a panel 210 that displays meta-data for a song currently beingplayed. As can be seen in FIG. 2, the meta-data includes a title(“Blowing in the Wind”), an author (“Bob Dylan”) and an album (“BobDylan's Greatest Hits”).

Reference is now made to FIG. 3, which is bottom view of the Egg 200 ofFIG. 2, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Thebottom of the Egg includes a female audio/video connector 210,preferably for transferring analog audio and analog video between theEgg and a Nest; and a female USB connector 220, preferably fortransferring digital data between the Egg and a Nest, between the Eggand a “filling station” kiosk, and between the Egg and another Egg.Corresponding to connectors 210 and 220, the cradles of the Nest containmale analog audio/video connector and male USB connectors (not shown inFIG. 1).

A typical usage scenario for a Nest and Egg is as follows. A listenersets his cable or satellite receiver box to a specific music channel,preferably from a commercial-free radio station such as The MusicChoices, and activates the Nest to capture songs from the music channel.The Nest automatically creates a digital music library and imports thebroadcast songs therein. Thereafter, the listener plugs an Egg into acradle of the Nest, and downloads selected songs from the music libraryonto the Egg. If the Nest is connected to the listener's speaker system,then the listener may also pipe music from the Nest into speakers invarious rooms. If the Nest is connected to a home network, the listenermay stream audio to a computer that is authorized to work with the Nest.

Preferably, in addition to a Nest being able to download songs to theEgg when the Egg is connected to the Nest, the Nest is also able toremove songs stored in the Egg. Thus, if the Egg storage is full, theNest can remove songs from the Egg, in order for the Egg to download anew set of songs.

Eggs of embodiments of the present invention may receive digital musicfrom other sources, in addition to the Nest. Thus the Eggs may becompatible with kiosks, such as music kiosks located in musicdistribution stores, used for listening to songs prior to purchase andfor subsequent purchase. Preferably, when an Egg is connected to a Nest,the digital music received from other devices and stored within the Eggcan be archived on the Nest.

An Egg may receive control commands through its USB connector.Specifically,

when connected to a Nest, the Nest may issue control commands to theEgg, such as a command to advance to the next song; and

when connected to a docking station, such as a docking station for theEgg in a room of a house, the docking station may receive infraredcommands issued by a user, and translate them into control commands tothe Egg over the USB connector.

Reference is now made to FIG. 4, which is an illustration of a graphicaluser interface (GUI) for copying songs from the Nest of FIG. 1 into theEgg of FIG. 2, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. The GUI shown in FIG. 4 is preferably displayed on atelevision or other display device connected to the Nest, and interactedwith through use of a remote control device, such as an infrared controlunit. As such, the GUI of FIG. 4 is intended for navigation with simpledirectional buttons and a select button.

The GUI shown in FIG. 4 is used to organize a digital music library andcreate playlists—i.e., sequences of songs for playing from the Nest—orfor copying to an Egg for playback from the Egg.

Copyright Management

In an enhanced embodiment of the present invention incorporates digitalrights management. In accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention, an Egg is registered with at most one Nest, and only Eggsregistered with a Nest have the right to check-out non-promotional songstherefrom, as described hereinbelow. Typically, a Nest will havemultiple Eggs registered with the Nest.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a song withina Nest or an Egg is labeled as “Purchased”, “Recorded” or “Try & Buy”. A“Purchased” song is one that is paid for by a consumer. Purchased songsinclude, inter alia, songs purchased through an Internet service such asItunes® or Napster®, songs purchased through a kiosk, and songs copiedand converted (“ripped”) to a format such as MP3 from a CD that ispurchased. “Recorded” songs include songs recorded for a consumer from acable or satellite music station. “Try & Buy” songs are promotional ortrial versions of songs that are provided to a consumer for free, andeventually expire. If the consumer wishes to continue to listen to suchsongs, he must obtain a Purchased or Recorded version of the song.

Expiration of a Try & Buy song may occur, inter alia, after a fixed timeperiod, such as thirty days, or after a fixed number of playbacks of thesong. Upon expiration, a Try & Buy song may cease to play altogether, ormay play only a down-sampled version of the song or a header of thesong, or may instead play a message explaining how to purchase the song,or otherwise enable purchase of the song.

Preferably, the label of a Try & Buy song includes a URL or other suchidentifier for one or more web sites that serve as a clearinghousethrough which the song can be purchased.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the Nestincludes a list of songs that are already contained within the Nest andsongs that are not already contained within the Nest. For example,whenever a song from a specific album by a specific artist is containedwithin the Nest, the list includes other songs from the same album orother songs by the same artist. Songs that have been recorded within theNest are labeled as Recorded. Other songs, not contained within theNest, can preferably be downloaded to the Nest as trial Try & Buyversions, upon request by a consumer. After listening to a Try & Buyversion of a song, the consumer may purchase the song using the Nest,and the purchased song is then labeled as Purchased. Such labeling of asong as Recorded, Purchased or Try & Buy serves to identify thecopyrights associated with the song.

Preferably, when a song is copied from one device to another devicewhere the two devices are registered with one another, such as from aNest to an Egg that is registered with the Nest, or from an Egg to aNest that the Egg is registered with, the label of the song ismaintained; i.e., the label of the song on the target device is set tothe label of the song on the source device. For example, if a Try & Buysong is copied from a Nest to an Egg that is registered with the Nest,and then to another Egg that is also registered with the same Nest, thenthe song is labeled as Try & Buy on the two Eggs. Similarly, if an Eggis used to purchase a song from a kiosk and the song is subsequentlycopied to a Nest that the Egg is registered with, then the song islabeled as Purchased on the Egg and on the Nest.

Preferably, when a song is copied from one device to another devicewhere the two devices are not registered with one another, such as froma Nest to an Egg or from an Egg to a Nest, where the Egg is notregistered with the Nest, then regardless of the label of the song onthe source device, the song is labeled as Try & Buy on the targetdevice.

Table I summarizes the copyright labeling of a song on a target device.

TABLE I Copyright Label of Song on Target Device with One EmbodimentSource Label --> Source Device --> Target Device Target Label Nest -->Egg registered with the Nest OR Purchased --> Purchased Egg registeredwith Nest --> Nest OR Recorded --> Recorded Egg --> Egg, both Eggsregistered with the same Nest Try & Buy --> Try & Buy Nest --> Egg notregistered with the Nest OR Purchased --> Try & Buy Egg not registeredwith Nest --> Nest OR Recorded --> Try & Buy Egg --> Egg, Eggsregistered with the different Nests Try & Buy -->Try & BuyCable/satellite broadcast --> Nest --> Recorded CD or other recordingmedia (optical, magnetic, etc.)--> Nest CD or other recording media(optical, magnetic, etc.)--> Egg --> Purchased Internet music service(iTunes ®, Napster ®) --> Nest Music kiosk --> Egg

The logic of table I assumes that any two devices can determine whetheror not they are commonly registered. This capability can be achieved,for example, if the registration information is built into a Nest and anEgg at the time of manufacture.

In addition to the logic of Table I, the label of a song within a Nestof an Egg is changed from Try & Buy to Purchased if a user purchases thesong from a clearinghouse, using the Nest or the Egg, respectively.

In a first alternative embodiment of the present invention, the Nest candirectly determine whether an Egg is registered with it, but an Eggcannot directly determine whether it is registered with a Nest, orwhether it and another Egg are registered to the same Nest. This occurs,for example, if an Egg has the capability of registering itself with anyone of a plurality of Nests after it is manufactured. In this lattercase, the logic of Table I is modified so that whenever a song is copiedfrom a source Egg to a target Egg, the song is labeled as Try & Buy inthe target Egg. Accordingly, the copyright labeling of a song on atarget device follows Table II.

TABLE II Copyright Label of Song on Target Device with First AlternateEmbodiment Source Label --> Source Device --> Target Device Target LabelNest --> Egg registered with the Nest OR Purchased --> Purchased Eggregistered with Nest --> Nest Recorded --> Recorded Try & Buy --> Try &Buy Nest --> Egg not registered with the Nest OR Purchased --> Try & BuyEgg not registered with Nest --> Nest OR Recorded --> Try & Buy Egg -->Egg Try & Buy -->Try & Buy Cable/satellite broadcast --> Nest -->Recorded CD or other recording media (optical, magnetic, etc.) --> NestCD or other recording media (optical, magnetic, etc.) --> Egg -->Purchased Internet music service (iTunes ®, Napster ®) --> Nest Musickiosk --> Egg

In this first alternative embodiment, an egg that is registered with afirst Nest may be re-registered with a second Nest. In such case, theEgg is no longer registered with the first Nest. Preferably, there is alimit to the number of times an Egg can be re-registered, and after anEgg re-registers itself a maximum number of times, it is blocked fromfurther re-registration.

In a second alternative embodiment of the present invention, thedistinction between Purchased and Recorded songs is ignored, and bothare identified as “Owned” songs. In this second alternative embodiment,the copyright labeling of a song on a target device follows Table III.

TABLE III Copyright Label of Song on Target Device with Second AlternateEmbodiment Source Label --> Source Device --> Target Device Target LabelNest --> Egg registered with the Nest OR Egg registered with Nest -->Nest OR Owned --> Owned Egg --> Egg, both Eggs registered with the sameNest Try & Buy --> Try & Buy Nest --> Egg not registered with the NestOR Egg not registered with Nest --> Nest OR Owned --> Try & Buy Egg -->Egg, Eggs registered with the different Nests Try & Buy --> Try & BuyCable/satellite broadcast --> Nest --> Owned CD or other recording media(optical, magnetic, etc.) --> Nest CD or other recording media (optical,magnetic, etc.) -->Egg --> Owned Internet music service (iTunes ®,Napster ®) --> Nest Music kiosk --> Egg

In yet a third alternative embodiment of the present invention, copyingof songs from a Nest to multiple Eggs, each of which is registered withthe Nest, is restricted. This third alternative embodiment has a moreelaborate logic than the other embodiments. In order to best describethis logic, the terms “checking-out” and “checking-in” of songs are usedas follows. When an Egg is connected to a Nest in order to downloadsongs from the Nest to the Egg, this is referred to herein as“checking-out” of songs. When an Egg is connected to a Nest in order toremove songs stored in the Egg, this is referred to herein as“checking-in” of songs.

Often the same song can be broadcast multiple times from a cable orsatellite music station, while the Nest is operational to record thebroadcast songs. For an embodiment of the present invention, the Neststores a count for each Recorded song, which is incremented when theNest encounters a broadcast song that has already been recorded onto theNest archive. Such count thus corresponds to the total number of timesthe Recorded song has been broadcast while the Nest was recording, andis denoted henceforth as max_permitted_copies. For example, if aRecorded song is re-played five times on the Music Channel while theNest is recording from the Music Channel, then max_permitted_copies=5for such song.

The max_permitted_copies count for a Recorded song is used to restrictthe number of different Eggs that the Nest allows to check-out the song.For example, if max_permitted_copies=5 for a Recorded song, then at mostfive different Eggs can check-out the song from the Nest. That is, foreach Recorded song in its archive, the Nest stores a count for eachsong, which is incremented when an Egg checks-out the song. Such countcorresponds to the number of Eggs that have checked-out the song, and isdenoted henceforth as number_copies_checked_out. For example, if threeEggs have checked-out the same Recorded song from the Nest, thennumber_copies_checked_out=3 for such song.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, when an Eggchecks-in a Recorded song with the Nest, thereby removing the song fromthe Egg, the number_copies_checked_out count is decremented. Forexample, if number_copies_checked_out=3 for a Recorded song and an Eggthat checked-out the song subsequently checks-in the song, thennumber_copies_checked_out is decremented to 2 for such song.

Reference is now made to, FIG. 5 which is a simplified flowchart of amethod for tracking the number of times the same song is broadcast whilethe Nest 100 of FIG. 1 is recording music, in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention. At operation 510 the Nestidentifies a song being broadcast from a cable or satellite station thatis currently being recorded by the Nest. At operation 520 the Nestdetermines whether or not the song is already stored within the Nest'sdigital archive. If so, then at operation 530 the Nest incrementsmax_permitted_copies by one. Otherwise, at operation 540 the Nestinitializes max_permitted_copies=1 for the song, andnumber_copies_checked_out=0 for the song. At operation 550 the Neststores the Recorded song and its meta-data within the Nest's digitalarchive.

Reference is now made to FIG. 6, which is a simplified flowchart of amethod for “checking-out” Recorded songs from the Nest of FIG. 1 to theEgg of FIG. 2, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. At operation 610 an Egg that is connected to a cradle in aNest requests to copy a Recorded song from the Nest to the Egg. Atoperation 620 the Nest determines whether or not the Egg is registeredwith the Nest. If so, then at operation 630 the Nest determines whethernumber_copies_checked_out is less than max_permitted_copies for therequested song. If so, then at operation 640 the Nest incrementsnumber_copies_checked_out for the song by one, and at operation 650 theNest permits the Egg to copy the song from the Nest to the Egg.

If, at operation 620 the Nest determines that the Egg is not registeredwith the Nest, or if, at operation 630, the Nest determines thatnumber_copies_checked_out is equal to max_permitted_copies, then theEgg's request for the Recorded song is denied at operation 660.Alternatively, the Recorded song may be copied onto the Egg as a trialversion, and labeled Try & Buy.

Reference is now made to FIG. 7, which is a simplified flowchart of amethod for “checking-in” Recorded songs from the Egg of FIG. 2 to theNest of FIG. 1, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. At operation 710 an Egg connected to a cradle in a Nestrequests to check-in a Recorded song. At operation 720 the Nestdetermines whether or not the Egg is registered with the Nest. If so,then at operation 730 the Nest determines whether or not the songalready resides within the Nest's digital archive. If so, then atoperation 740 the Nest decrements number_copies_checked_out for the songby one, and at operation 750 the Nest instructs the Egg to erase thesong from the Egg.

If at operation 720 the Nest determines that the Egg is not registeredwith the Nest, then the Egg's request to check-in the song is denied atoperation 760. Alternatively, the song may be copied onto the Nest as atrial version, and labeled Try & Buy. If at operation 730 the Nestdetermines that the song does not currently reside within its digitalarchive, then this indicates that the Egg obtained the song from anothersource, such as from a kiosk. As such, at operation 770 the Nestinitializes max_permitted_copies=1 for the song, andnumber_copies_checked_out=0 for the song. At operation 780 the Nestcopies the song and its meta-data from the Egg into the Nest's digitalarchive.

Preferably, when a Recorded song is copied from a first Egg to a secondEgg in this embodiment, the song is labeled as Try & Buy on the secondEgg, even if the first and second Egg are both registered to the sameNest.

Purchased songs may also be restricted for copying to multiple Eggs withsimilar logic, by setting max_permitted_copies=1.

In general, it may now be appreciated by those skilled in the art thatembodiments of the present invention support a general digital rightsconfiguration, by means of rules that specify whether or not a songresiding on a source device has requisite permission for copying to atarget device and, if so, how the song should be labeled when copied tothe target device. Such rules may be embodied within functions

mayBeCopied(srcDeviceType, trgtDeviceType, is Registered,srcDeviceLabel),

trgtLabel(srcDeviceType, trgtDeviceType, is Registered, srcLabel), wheresrcDeviceType and trgtDeviceType are device specific parameters:

srcDeviceType indicates the type of the source device in which thedigital song resides, including inter alia Nest and Egg; and

trgtDeviceType indicates the type of the target device onto which thedigital song is to be copied, including inter alia Nest and Egg; whereis Registered is specific to a pair of devices:

isRegistered indicates whether or not the source device and targetdevice are commonly registered;

where srcLabel and trgtLabel are both song and device specificparameters:

srcLabel indicates the label of the song on the source device, includinginter alia Recorded, Purchased and Try & Buy or, alternatively, Ownedand Try & Buy; and

trgtLabel indicates the label of the song on the target device,including inter alia Recorded, Purchased and Try & Buy or,alternatively, Owned and Try & Buy; and

where:

mayBeCopied indicates whether or not the song may be copied from thesource device to the target device.

More generally, as described hereinabove, the functions mayBeCopied( )and trgtLabel( ) may have additional parameters max_permitted_copies andnumber_copies_checked_out, where max_permitted_copies andnumber_copies_checked_out are both song and device specific parameters:

max_permitted_copies indicates the maximum number of copies of the songthat are permitted from the device; and

number_copies_checked_out indicates the current number of copies of thesong that have been made from the device.

It may be appreciated by those skilled in the art that alternatively thefunctions mayBeCopied( ) and trgtLabel( ) may be embodied as tables orother data structures.

Reference is now made to FIG. 8, which is a simplified block diagram ofa digital rights management system in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention. Shown in FIG. 8 is a source device 805 includinga database manager 810 and a rights manager 815. Database manager 810preferably controls a database 820 that stores digital songs andmeta-data associated therewith. Preferably, the meta-data includes alabel for each song, indicating whether the song is Purchased, Recordedor Try & Buy, as described hereinabove. Optionally, the meta-data mayalso include max_permitted_copies and number_copies_checked_out for oneor more songs. The songs, their labels, and their max_permitted_copiesand number_copies_checked_out parameters are accessible through databasemanager 810.

It may be appreciated by those skilled in the art that digital songs andtheir meta-data may be stored in one or more database tables, withindatabase 820, that can be joined. Alternatively, the binary song datamay be stored in memory locations outside of database 820, and pointedto by address entries in database 820. It may also be appreciated thatdatabase 820 may instead be structured as a plurality of databases.

Also shown in FIG. 8 is a target device 825, including its own databasemanager 830, rights manager 835, and database 840.

Rights manager 815 determines whether or not a song resident on sourcedevice 810 may be copied to a specified target device, such as targetdevice 825. If copying of the song is permitted, then rights manager 815further determines a label to be used for the song on the target device,referred to as the target label. In accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention, rights manager 815 bases its determination on (i) thetype of source device 805, (ii) the type of target device 825, (iii) thelabel of the song on source device 805, and (iv) themax_permitted_copies and number_copies_checked_out parameters for thesong on source device 805. Rights manager 815 preferably implementsfunctions such as mayBeCopiedo and trgtLabelo described hereinabove.

After rights manager 815 determines the target label, it transmits thesong and the target label to target device 825. Target device 825preferably adds the song to its database 840 and labels the song indatabase 840 according to the target label.

Also shown in FIG. 8 is a clearinghouse 845 for purchasing songs. Sourcedevice 805 and target device 825 may purchase songs directly fromclearinghouse 845. For songs not currently resident on source device 805or target device 825, clearinghouse 845 preferably sends the songs tothe device that purchases them. For songs currently resident on sourcedevice 805 or target device 825 labeled Try & Buy, clearinghouse 845preferably sends an authorization to source database manager 810 ortarget database manager 830 to change the label of the songs from Try &Buy to Purchased. Clearinghouse 845 preferably includes a transactionprocessor 850, which enables a user to purchase rights to songs andverifies the user's payment. Upon completion of a user's purchase of asong by transaction processor 850, clearinghouse 845 sends the songs tothe user's device, or sends an authorization to the user's device tochange the label of the song, as appropriate.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, clearinghouse845 also freely distributes Try & Buy versions of songs, which can beconverted to Purchased versions at a later date, if a user so desires.

Preferably, clearinghouse 845 is administered by an entity that hasdistribution privileges for the songs it sells, such as a cable orsatellite company.

Reference is now made to FIG. 9, which is a simplified flow chart for adigital rights management system, in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention. As can be seen, FIG. 9 is divided into twocolumns, the leftmost column indicating operations performed by a sourceaudio device, such as source device 805 (FIG. 8) and the rightmostcolumn indicating operations performed by a target audio device, such astarget device 825.

At operation 910 the target device requests a song to be copied from thesource device. At operation 920 the source device receives the requestand identifies the target device. In particular, the source devicedetermines the type of the target device, and whether or not the sourceand target device are registered with one another.

At operation 930 the source device determines the label for therequested song, and the max_permitted_copies andnumber_copies_checked_out parameters for the requested song. Preferably,this information is contained within a source device database, such asdatabase 820 (FIG. 8). At operation 940 the source device determineswhether or not the target device has permission to copy the song.Preferably such determination is made by a rights manager within thesource device, such as rights manager 815. If it is determined atoperation 940 that the target device does not have permission to copythe song from the source device, then at operation 950 source devicedenies the copy request. Otherwise, if it is determined at operation 940that the target device does have permission to copy the song from thesource device, then at operation 960 the source device determines how tolabel the song within the target device. Preferably, such determinationis also made by a rights manager, such as rights manager 815.

At operation 970 the source device transmits the requested song and itslabel to the target device, and at operation 980 the target devicecopies the requested song to its database, and labels the requested songaccordingly.

In reading the above description, persons skilled in the art willrealize that there are many apparent variations that can be applied tothe methods and systems described. Thus, the configurable logicdescribed hereinabove for songs and audio devices is applicable as wellto movies and video devices, and to other types of media and mediadevices.

Transfer of songs from sources devices to target devices, and fromclearinghouses to devices, may be performed in batches of songs, such asentire albums, as well as for single songs. In addition, devices may be“hot-synched” to one another. For example, an Egg may be hot-synched toa Nest, using wired or wireless communication, so that the Nest isupdated periodically with the songs in the Egg.

In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described withreference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will, however,be evident that various modifications and changes may be made to thespecific exemplary embodiments without departing from the broader spiritand scope of the invention. Accordingly, the specification and drawingsare to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

1. A method for managing rights for digital music, comprising:maintaining, by a digital archive of songs, for a song stored in thedigital archive, a maximum number of permitted copies of the song;tracking, within the digital archive, for the song, a count of musicplayers that copied the song from the digital archive; permitting amusic player to copy the song from the digital archive if the count forthe song has not reached the maximum number of permitted copies for thesong; and restricting a music player from copying the song from thedigital archive if the count for the song has reached the maximum numberof permitted copies for the song.
 2. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising: erasing a song from the music player, by a digital archivethat stores the song; and reducing the count for the song within thedigital archive.
 3. The method of claim 1 further comprising: adding anew song and meta-data therefor into the digital archive; initializingthe maximum number of permitted copies of the new song to one; andinitializing the count for the new song to zero.
 4. The method of claim3 wherein said adding comprises recording the new song from a musicchannel broadcast.
 5. The method of claim 3 wherein said addingcomprises copying the new song from the music player.
 6. Acomputer-readable storage medium storing program code for causing adevice to perform a method comprising: maintaining, by a digital archiveof songs, for a song stored in the digital archive, a maximum number ofpermitted copies of the song; tracking, within the digital archive, forthe song, a count of music players that copied the song from the digitalarchive; permitting a music player to copy the song from the digitalarchive if the count for the song has not reached the maximum number ofpermitted copies for the song; and preventing a music player fromcopying the song from the digital archive if the count for the song hasreached the maximum number of permitted copies for the song.
 7. A systemfor managing rights for digital music, comprising: a digital archive ofsongs comprising: a database manager for maintaining a maximum number ofpermitted copies of a song, for a song stored within the digitalarchive, and for tracking a count of music players that copied the songfrom the digital archive; and a rights manager for permitting a musicplayer to copy the song from the digital archive if the count for thesong has not reached the maximum number of permitted copies for thesong, and for restricting a music player from copying the song from thedigital archive if the count for the song has reached the maximum numberof permitted copies for the song.
 8. The system of claim 7 wherein saiddigital archive erases a song from a music player, and wherein saiddatabase manager reduces the count for the song within the digitalarchive.
 9. The system of claim 7 wherein said database manager adds anew song and meta-data therefor into the digital archive, initializesthe maximum number of permitted copies of the new song to one, andinitializes the count for the new song to zero.
 10. The system of claim9 wherein said digital archive records the new song from a music channelbroadcast.
 11. The system of claim 9 wherein said digital archive copiesthe new song from the music player.